Incubus is one of those bands that you’re either going to love or you’re going to bitterly hate.

Abandoning its once-rasta/hippie mindset for a more commercially viable and sonically pleasing rock tone, Incubus has evolved a great deal over the last five years and found itself in a position at the top of the frequently waning modern-rock genre.

Lead singer Brandon Boyd rarely traverses a stage with a shirt, and, like a modern-day Pied Piper, he has assembled a cavalry of devoted girls who want nothing more than to waste a roll of film on his shirtless physique. Vanity aside, Incubus has gotten better as a band, too.

While its debut Fungus Amongus should be pulled from the shelves immediately for its awful hemp-advocating, jam-band feel, 1997’s S.C.I.E.N.C.E. proved much harder-hitting and more exacting in its approach. Darker and musically more appropriate for the 1998 Family Values Tour with Korn (when rap-metal was god), S.C.I.E.N.C.E. showed signs of life for Incubus.

The band’s big break came with 1999’s Make Yourself. Haircuts, a new image and crisp music helped propel the band into an entirely new light.

“Pardon Me” was one of its most accessible and radio-friendly tunes to date, and the acoustic track “Drive” was unavoidable; Incubus had made it.

Abandoning the sterile environment of the recording studio, Incubus set up shop in a California mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean for the recording of the appropriately titled Morning View, released in 2001. The Stone Temple Pilots had the same idea and just happened to be a few houses down, recording their last disc Shangri-La Dee Da.

For Incubus, Morning View represents its most cohesive piece of work, and the tracks prove it.

“Wish You Were Here” seemed to be everywhere for a while, including Olympic-highlight reels; “Warning” found a nice home on MTV, and “Circles” was a swirling rocker that exemplified a new melodic rock simplicity that is pervasive on Morning View.

Currently, Incubus is finishing up the final tour of the Morning View era and looking forward to some much- needed rest.

Bassist Dirk Lance (real name Alex Katunich) spoke with The Badger Herald on a tour stop at Penn State University as Incubus prepared for a concert with guest Hometown Hero at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum Monday, Oct. 14.

Badger Herald: How has the Morning View era differed from that of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. or Make Yourself?

Dirk Lance: It’s much bigger in scale. As far as the live concerts go, we’re playing in front of more people than we ever have.

There seems to be a general consensus among the group that it’s been our best record to date and the best tour to date, since we get to play material from the different albums. Everyone is getting a taste of what they want to hear.

BH: Has the change in style and sound of Incubus changed your fan base, or are the fans that appreciated the early material still enjoying the new stuff?

DL: There are definitely those people still there. They are a little bit more of a minority, just because the success of the last two records has brought a bigger audience to the whole thing, who are getting their first chance to hear some of those older songs.

I know the kids who aren’t familiar with the older material do get excited to see the enthusiasm of the people who do know it. They feel like they’ve just been let in on a big secret.

BH: How has the songwriting approach of the band changed in the past few years?

DL: It’s not so much that the approach has been different, it’s just that we’ve matured as songwriters. With practice you get better at what you do.

We’re also a little bit older and a little bit wiser in the ways in which to write songs, and the material and subject matter that we choose to write about changed just based on experience and age.

BH: Where do you see the music of the band going next?

DL: It’s a little too soon to say. We never have a conversation about the direction an album is going to take; it’s sort of a natural progression.

Everyone is still in the touring mode because we’re not done yet. I don’t think anyone is thinking too far ahead yet.

BH: Have you changed up any of the songs at all since you’ve been on the road so long?

DL: Sometimes, more with older material than brand-new material. The brand-new stuff, we haven’t grown tired of it just yet. While we have made a few changes here and there, if we are going to re-interpret something, it’s going to be a song that we’ve played for a number of years, which may just need a little bit of help to make it interesting to us again.

BH: What’s one thing Incubus has yet to achieve that you’re still striving for?

DL: World domination (laughs). There are always more tickets to sell, there’s always a better record to write, maybe more fans to be gained.

All things considered, I’m not in a place to complain about anything. It’s been a long, slow ride, but enjoyable, and as long as continues to go the right direction, I think we’ll stick with it.

Incubus performs with special guest Hometown Hero at the Alliant Energy Center Coliseum, Monday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m.